Electronic cribbage board



June 15, 1965 w. A. BRADLEY ELECTRONIC CRIBBAGE BOARD 3 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed Sept. 9, 19s:

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June 1965 w. A. BRADLEY 3,189,888

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United States Patent 3,189,888 ELECTRUNIC CRHSBAGE BOARD William A.Bradley, 1301 12th St. E, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada Filed Sept. 9,1963, Ser. No. $137,709 6 Claims. (@Cl. 340-323) My invention relates tonew and useful improvements in electronic Cribbage boards.

The conventional method of scoring cribbage is to have a board withinwhich are provided .a plurality of drillings or apertures normallyformed in two parallel tracks, and usually incorporating 120 aperturesfor each track. A pair of pegs are progressively moved along the tracksas the scoring proceeds, each player normally looking after his ownscore.

in order to operate satisfactorily, the board has to be located :so thatboth players can reach the pegs easily but unfortunately pegs oftenbecome displaced when one player is moving his own score so that somedoubt occurs as to the exact score of the game at that point.

Another disadvantage is that due to the length of the tracks they arenormally counter folded one upon the other to encompass the manyrelatively small boards so that any one player has to travel down in onedirection, around the corner and back up the other direction and thenfinish on a third track parallel to the first track. This often becomesconfusing so that it is quite prevalent for a player to score backwardlyon the track rather than forwardly once again adding to the confusion ofthe score at that point.

I have overcome these disadvantages by providing an electronic boardhaving a source of light for each corresponding score point upon thetracks, said lights being illuminated by a units and tenths switch whichcan be manipulated readily and easily by the player involved without thedanger of error occurring.

The principal object and essence of my invention is therefore to providea device of the character herewithin described which eliminates the useof pegs, match sticks and the like from the scoring of the game ofCribbage.

Another object of my invention is to provide a device of the characterherewithin described in which it is diificult to misunderstand the scoreor to make an error in the actual scoring process.

Yet another object of my invention is to provide a device of thecharacter herewithin described which can be battery operated or,alternatively, can be plugged into the house voltage.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a device of thecharacter herewithin described which is simple in construction,economical in manufacture, and otherwise well suited to the purpose forwhich it is designed.

With the foregoing objects in view, and such other objects andadvantages as will become apparent to those skilled in the art to whichthis invention relates as this specification proceeds, my inventionconsists essentially in the arrangement and construction of parts all ashereinafiter more particularly described, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a schematic block diagram of one track, the second trackbeing separate but identical.

FIGURE 2 is a schematic wiring diagram of one track, it being understoodthat the second track is identical.

FIGURE 3 shows a schematic wiring diagram of the portion of my deviceincorporating the win bulb circuits and showing the 110 and 120 stage ofthe track.

FIGURE 4 is a top plan view of a cribbage board with my inventionincorporated.

3,189,888 Patented June 15, 1965 FIGURE 5 is a cross sectional view ofthe board substantially along the line 5-5 of FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged view of the switching area of the cribbageboard.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate correspondingparts in the diiferent figures.

Proceeding therefore to describe my invention in detail, reference toFIGURES 4 and 5 will show a conventional cnibbage board collectivelydesignated 10 which is substantially rectangular when viewed in plan andnormally consists of a planar piece of wood or the like. Although thepresent device is shown as a board, normally designed to be supportedupon a table, nevertheless this particular invention is suitable for usewith a relatively large cribbage board having four legs which is selfsupporting and provides an area suflicient for a playing sur-fac Asubstantially rectangular aperture 11 is formed through the board 10bounded by the sides 12 and the ends 13 of the aperture. These sides andends are recessed to provide support ledges 14 for a panel of clearplastic or glass 14 situated flush with the upper surface 15 of theboard and covering the lamps and lamp holder unit collectivelydesignated 16. In this particular embodiment, the lamp holder 17consists of a rectangular piece of styrofoam plastic sheet cut to fitthe recess 11 and adapted to register upon the overlapping flanged edges18 of strips 19 secured to the underside 20 of the board as clearlyshown in FIG. 5.

The bulbs 21 are preferably NE2 neon type bulbs which are relativelysmall and are pointed upon the upper end thereof. These can readily bepushed through the styrofoam plastic sheet so that the upper ends 22 ofthe bulbs break through the upper surface 23 of the plastic as shown inFIGURE 5.

Reference character 24 illustrates track one of a conventional scoringroute for a cribb age game and reference character 25 illustrates thecorresponding parallel track two. It is conventional to score 120 pointsfor a cribbage game and these tracks are counter folded in order toencompass them within a relatively small space as shown in FIG. 4.

Situated adjacent each end 26 and 27 of the board are scoring actuatorpanels 26 and 27', one of these scoring panels being connected to trackone and the other to track two.

Each scoring panel consists of a multiple units switch 28 and a multipletens switch 29 with the relevant indicia engraved around the switchknobs 28' and 29'.

The wiring of the indicator lamps 21 is shown in detail in FIG. 2. Theunits switch 28 is provided with twelve switching positions includingoil, 1, 2, 3, 4, S, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and win, and the tens switching unitis provided with twelve switching positions including 0, 10, 20, 30, 40,50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110.

The switches connect the device to a source of electrical energy throughmeans of a conventional plug 30, K resistors 31 being provided wherenecessary so that the voltage and current are correct for NE-2 neonbulbs.

Unit 1 of the units switch 28 is connected to one side of indicator lamp#1 (reference character 31') and to indicator lamps 11, 21, 31, 41, 51,61, etc. Units switch 2 is connected to neon bulb #2, (referencecharacter 32) and also to one side of bulbs 12, 22, 32, 42, 52, 62, etc.

The remaining unit numbers are connected in a similar manner to bulbs 3,4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and also to their corresponding multiples asclearly shown in FIG. 2.

The other sides of the indicator lamps 31', 32, etc. of the first 10positions are connected to the zero position of the tens switch and theother sides of bulbs 10 to 20 are connected to the position of the tensswitch and the remaining positions of the switches are connected asclearly indicated in FIG. 2.

Reference should be made to FIG. 3 which shows the win bulb 33 and 34situated at the ends of the tracks and connectable by means of the unitsswitch between the win position and the other side of the 110 to 120stage of each of the tracks so that the win bulb will only illuminatewhen the tens switch is at 110 position and the units switch has beenmoved around through 1 to 10 to the win position.

In operation, both units switches are in the off position at thebeginning of the game and the tens switches are set to zero. If theplayer on track one scores six points, he moves the units points to sixthus illuminating the sixth bulb. If he then scores a further eightpoints, he moves the units switch around to position No. 4 and the tensswitch to position No. 10 so that the score illuminates fourteen.

Play continues until the one player is enabled to illuminate the winbulb and at all times it is readily apparent the position of bothplayers with the minimum chance of error occurring.

Since various modifications can be made in my invention as hereinabovedescribed, and many apparently widely different embodiments of same madewithin the spirit and scope of the claims without departing from suchspirit and scope, it is intended that all matter con tained in theaccompanying specifications shall be interpreted as illustrative onlyand not in a limiting sense.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. An electronic cribbage board comprising in combination with a sourceof electrical energy, a supporting board, an indicating lamp holderrecessed Within said board, a plurality of indicator lamps correspondingto the conventional two-player scoring tracks, there being one indicatorlamp for each of said scoring positions on each of said tracks, amultiple units switch mounted on said board for each of said tracks anda multiple tens switch mounted on said board for each of said tracks,and electrical wiring extending from said source of electrical energy,through said switches, to said indicator lamps whereby sequentialmovement of said units and said tens switches will illuminate saidindicator lamps sequentially.

2. The device according to claim 1 in which said lamp holder comprises asheet of opaque styrofoam plastic, said indicator lamps being pushedthrough said plastic from the'underside thereof so that the upperportions of said lamps break through the upper surface of said styrofoamholder.

3. The device according to claim 2 which includes a transparent sheetcovering said lamp holder and recessed into the surface of said board.

4. The device according to claim 1 which includes a further circuit foreach track connected to one of said switches to selectively illuminate awin bulb situated adjacent the end of said tracks.

5. The device according to claim 2 which includes a further circuit foreach track connected to one of said switches to selectively illuminate awin bulb situated adjacent the end of said tracks.

6. The device according to claim 3 which includes a further circuit foreach track connected .to one of said switches to selectively illuminatea win bulb situated adjacent the end of said tracks.

No references cited.

NEIL C. READ, Primary Examiner.

1. AN ELECTRONIC CRIBBAGE BOARD COMPRISING IN COMBINATION WITH A SOURCEOF ELECTRICAL ENERGY, A SUPPORTING BOARD, AN INDICATING LAMP HOLDERRECESSED WITHIN SAID BOARD, A PLURALITY OF INDICATOR LAMPS CORRESPONDINGTO THE CONVENTIONAL TWO-PLAYER SCORING TRACKS, THERE BEING ONE INDICATORLAMP FOR EACH OF SAID 120 SCORING POSITIONS ON EACH OF SAID TRACKS, AMULTIPLE UNITS SWITCH MOUNTED ON SAID BOARD FOR EACH OF SAID TRACKS ANDA MULTIPLE TENS SWITCH MOUNTED ON SAID BOARD FOR EACH OF SAID TRACKS,AND ELECTRICAL WIRING EXTENDING FROM SAID SOURCE OF ELECTRICAL ENERGY,THROUGH SAID SWITCHES, TO SAID INDICATOR LAMPS WHEREBY SEQUENTIALMOVEMENT OF SAID UNITS AND SAID TENS SWITCHES WILL ILLUMINATE SAIDINDICATOR LAMPS SEQUENTIALLY.